The Obama administration continues to float the prospect of an extended U.S. military occupation of Iraq. Ahead of meetings with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Iraq, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the United States would consider keeping troops in Iraq beyond a deadline for a complete withdrawal by the end of the year.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates: “So, if folks here are going to want us to have a presence, we’re going to need to get on with it pretty quickly in terms of our planning and our ability to figure out where we get the forces and what kind of forces we need here and what specifically the mission they want us to do is. I think there is interest in having a continuing presence, but the politics are such we’ll just have to wait and see, because the initiative ultimately has to come from the Iraqis.”